erchha

Why is it that you would like to do a research Fulbright before entering a PhD program? Do you feel this will strengthen your application in future seasons or is this something you would like to do for the life experience? Many programs will assist you in grant applications during your PhD, in which case it may just make the most sense to go straight into a PhD program. If you just want the life experience and would rather live abroad for a year before doing a PhD I would apply to both and worry about the possibility of deferral later. There is no reason why even if a school had no deferral policy they would look down upon a student taking a year off to do additional research, and your application would most likely still be favorably received the next year.

Congrats on your acceptance to Toronto! I am definitely no expert since I am just now finishing my BA and entering into an MA (potentially at Toronto!), but from what I understand the Centre for Medieval Studies still has a very strong reputation in the US. I am not sure if it is the same for literature, but if you look at the medieval history faculty of some top US programs many of them got their PhDs from Toronto, which I take as a good sign. Although having a degree from an Ivy League school in the US certainly helps your chances of landing a job, they are far from the only schools that place people. Personally I feel that Toronto is still prestigious enough to allow you to have good job prospects in the future.

With medieval history it is especially important to have some knowledge of languages. How is your Latin? I don't think this will make or break an application at the MA level (I've only had one year of college Latin and was accepted into 4 MA programs for medieval history) but it certainly doesn't hurt, and is a great thing to work on before reapplying next year if that is what you decide to do. There are also a lot of great schools in North America which have especially strong programs in medieval history, and if you want any more info on these feel free to PM me.

Thanks for the info! I'll definitely try to make it for the visiting weekend - it will be hard to pass up the opportunity to work with the history faculty at UChicago.

I was just accepted into the MAPSS program at Chicago with a half tuition scholarship! Beyond thrilled. Does anyone have any insight into the program? I would love to learn more about it

I also looked at Notre Dame but I ended up not applying - it's a great program though! I applied to the MA programs at Toronto, Fordham, and Western Michigan, who all have people I would love to work with. I am in the same boat as you - I think if applications don't work out for me this round I will take a year off and do some teaching and work on languages before trying again next year. I would be thrilled to land in an MA program though. I will just be excited if any of the places I applied accept me!

Hyram mcdaniels - which medieval studies programs did you apply to? I applied to a few medieval studies MA programs alongside my PhD programs just because I am also still finishing my undergrad and I am a little apprehensive about jumping straight into a PhD program (especially because of languages - my Latin could definitely be stronger)

Thanks, ashiepoo72! I am trying to remain optimistic - northwestern was always a reach for me anyway, at this point I would just really like to hear something! But I guess we will all hear back before long

Hey everyone - I have been reading this post for a while now, but I thought I would finally jump in to try and ease my anxiety a little bit. One of the schools I am waiting on is Northwestern, so the acceptances are making me a little anxious (congrats though!) I haven't heard back from any schools yet and I am getting more and more anxious every day...glad to see I am not alone in that though!